18 Aug 2009
Heavy fighting between Somali government forces and insurgents leaves more than six people dead and another 16 injured in northern Mogadishu.

The clashes broke out late on August 17, when the two sides exchanged heavy mortar fire, which killed at least three civilians in the districts of Yakhshiid and Suuq-Bacaad.

The injured civilians were rushed to a local hospital, witnesses told Press TV correspondent in Mogadishu.

In the early hours of the same day, unidentified gunmen attacked a United Nations World Food Program (WFP) compound in the northwestern region of Bakool.

Aid workers have been the targets of assassinations and kidnappings in Somalia, prompting a large number of aid groups to cease operations in the Horn of Africa country, where rival militias control most of the country.

Insurgent attacks continue to claim lives in Somalia, even after the election of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who futilely attempted to patch up the widely divided factions to put an end to internal armed conflict in the country.
presstv

18 Aug 2009
A main Nigerian rebel group says that an alleged extrajudicial execution by the military may endanger the fragile ceasefire with the country's armed forces.

Niger Delta rebels, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), said in a statement on Tuesday that the military's Joint Task Force (JTF) unit in Sama, had "executed an unarmed man and dumped his body into the river,” the previous day.

The group, which is fighting for a larger share of the government's oil revenue, warned that this act could put at risk last month's 60-day ceasefire, which followed deadly confrontations between the JTF and MEND.

"Such irresponsible action by the military, even if it is targeted at civilians, is not acceptable and can jeopardize the current ceasefire if repeated," said the statement cited by AFP.

The statement also declared support for the area's youth, who in retaliation to the execution attacked the JTF unit, killing one soldier. The youth claimed that they were allowed to defend themselves.

The clashes left dozens of soldiers, militants and civilians dead.

President Umaru Yar'Adua's declared an unconditional amnesty for all militants in the volatile region on June 25, to promote a ceasefire.

"There was no such incident to the best of my knowledge,” JTF spokesman, Colonel Rabe Abubakar told AFP. "The JTF cannot go contrary to the amnesty program."

presstv

Reuters - Former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba was acquitted on Monday of all charges in what was seen as a landmark corruption case against an African former head of state.

Analysts say the ruling could be a setback for Zambia’s fight against graft, but the country’s anti-corruption task force described the case as proof of its determination to fight crime within a strong legal framework.

Zambia has earned praise from Western donors for cracking down on corruption, a policy that critics say is rare in Africa.

The ruling is unlikely to deter investors in Africa’s biggest copper producer.

Chiluba’s co-accused, two business executives, were found guilty of theft and possession of state funds and were each imprisoned for three years.

Lusaka magistrate Jones Chinyama said the prosecution had failed to prove the case against Chiluba, who ruled Zambia for a decade after ousting liberation hero Kenneth Kaunda in multiparty elections in 1991.

The trade unionist turned politician, hailed as a democrat after helping to dismantle Kaunda’s 27 years of socialist single party rule, was charged with stealing nearly $500,000 of public funds.

“I find that the accused is not guilty on all counts,” Chinyama said.

LANDMARK RULING

In 2007, British judge Peter Smith ordered Chiluba to pay $58 million to the Zambian Treasury to compensate for money he was suspected of stealing while in office.

That ruling, hailed as a turning point in Africa’s battle against official corruption, was made in Britain where Zambian officials filed a civil case to try to recover properties and other assets owned by Chiluba and his associates in Britain and other European countries.

In 2002 late president Levy Mwanawasa launched Zambia’s biggest anti-corruption drive since independence from Britain in 1964, resulting in jail terms for several prominent figures including senior officials and ministers under Chiluba.

Chiluba’s wife Regina was jailed for three and a half years in March for corruption.

“Most people will think he (Chiluba) was just forgiven, especially (given) that his (co-accused) were found guilty, and this will complicate the fight against corruption. No one will take the fight seriously,” said Jotham Momba, a professor of political science at the University of Zambia in Lusaka.

“However, it will have no effect on investments because most investors care little about corruption, all they think about is to make profits.”

Chibamda Kanyama, an economist with Zambian Breweries, said the ruling could be damaging.

“The judgment is contrary to the people’s expectations. It enhances the perception that the judiciary is compromised,” he said. “Commercial disputes are among the primary drivers of investments and people should hold the court in high esteem.”

Chiluba, an old friend of current President Rupiah Banda, still enjoys support from the poor despite the corruption case. He says he is the victim of a witch hunt.

“Those who thought I am a thief should know now that I am innocent. As a Christian nation we do not steal but the devil will accuse you of stealing,” Chiluba told a news conference after the verdict was handed down.

france24

August 17, 2009

Toendepi Shonhe, director general of the Movement for Democratic Change, the party now sharing power with President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF, was acquitted Monday of perjury charges, an M.D.C. statement said. The statement said the charges were trumped up by elements of the old guard bent on sabotaging the new coalition government. Several members of Zimbabwe’s Parliament and officials from the M.D.C. are facing charges the party says are false and aimed at depriving Mr. Mugabe’s rivals of a majority.

nytimes

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

She talked chickens with female farmers in Kenya. She listened to the excruciating stories of rape victims in war-torn eastern Congo. And in South Africa, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited a housing project built by poor women, where she danced with a choir singing "Heel-a-ree! Heel-a-ree!"

Clinton's just-concluded 11-day trip to Africa has sent the clearest signal yet that she intends to make women's rights one of her signature issues and a higher priority than ever before in American diplomacy.

She plans to press governments on abuses of women's rights and make women more central in U.S. aid programs.

But her efforts go beyond the marble halls of government and show how she is redefining the role of secretary of state. Her trips are packed with town hall meetings and visits to micro-credit projects and women's dinners. Ever the politician, she is using her star power to boost women who could be her allies.

"It's just a constant effort to elevate people who, in their societies, may not even be known by their own leaders," Clinton said in an interview. "My coming gives them a platform, which then gives us the chance to try and change the priorities of the governments."

Clinton's agenda faces numerous obstacles. The U.S. aid system is a dysfunctional jumble of programs. Some critics may question why she is focusing on women's rights instead of terrorism or nuclear proliferation. And improving the lot of women in such places as Congo is complicated by deeply rooted social problems.

"It's great she's mentioning the issue," said Brett Schaefer, an Africa scholar at the Heritage Foundation. "As to whether her bringing it up will substantially improve the situation or treatment of women in Africa, frankly I doubt it."

Lawrence Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, said that Clinton has to tread carefully in socially conservative regions, particularly those where the U.S. military is at war. "You might be right, in the narrow sense of women in that country or region need to be empowered, but you're saying something inimical to other U.S. interests," he said.

Despite Clinton's efforts to spotlight women's issues, it was her own angry response to what she perceived as a sexist question at a town hall meeting in Congo that dominated American television coverage of her Africa trip. A student had asked for former president Bill Clinton's opinion on a local political issue -- "through the mouth of Mrs. Clinton." Snapped Hillary Clinton: "My husband is not the secretary of state. I am."

Clinton is not the first female secretary of state, but neither of her predecessors had her impact abroad as a pop feminist icon. On nearly every foreign trip, she has met with women -- South Korean students, Israeli entrepreneurs, Iraqi war widows, Chinese civic activists. Clinton mentioned "women" or "woman" at least 450 times in public comments in her first five months in the position, twice as often as her predecessor, Condoleezza Rice.

Clinton's interest in global women's issues is deeply personal, a mission she adopted as first lady after the stinging defeat of her health-care reform effort in 1994. For months, she kept a low profile. Then, in September 1995, she addressed the U.N. women's conference in Beijing, strongly denouncing abuses of women's rights. Delegates jumped to their feet in applause.

"It was a transformational moment for her," said Melanne Verveer, who has worked closely with Clinton since her White House days.

washingtonpost

15 August 2009
The final results of a referendum to allow President Mamadou Tandja to remain in power beyond the end of his term have been validated by Niger's constitutional court. The opposition has denounced the vote as a constitutional "coup d'etat".

AFP - Niger's constitutional court on Friday validated the result of a controversial referendum that handed President Mamadou Tandja a mandate to extend his rule, potentially for life.

The referendum to amend the constitution of the uranium-rich west African nation "received 92.5 percent of favourable votes. Thus it must be declared adopted," said a court decision read over state radio.

The court "validated and proclaimed definitive" the results of the August 4 referendum announced three days later by the national electoral commission but strongly contested by the opposition which called for a boycott of the vote.

Commission chief Moumouni Hamidou said turnout was 68.26 percent or some 4.1 million voters.

The opposition denounced what it said was a "coup d'etat" by Tandja, and the referendum also came under attack from the international community.

Tandja, 71, has consistently claimed that his bid to cling to power was to fulfil "the will of the people."

The referendum will allow the president, in power since 1999, to remain in office beyond the December 22 end of his tenure and thereafter seek unlimited mandates.

It also beefs up the president's powers by making him the "sole holder of executive power." The president will head the army, name the prime minister and have complete control over the cabinet.


The new constitution has provision for a bicameral legislature comprising a house of representatives and a senate.

Niger currently does not have a senate.

Tandja has won accolades for bringing stability to Niger and improving the state of the economy of the world's third largest uranium producer but his plan to extend his mandate indefinitely has been slammed both at home and abroad.

The 1999 constitution limited presidential mandates to two terms.

Tandja ran into stiff opposition from both parliament and the constitutional court in his bid to extend his rule. He dissolved both, declared an emergency and began to rule by decree.
france24

17 August 2009
Jacob Zuma has completed his first 100 days in office, days that have been marked by recession and mass strikes. But South Africa's popular and charismatic leader has shown an ability to listen to opponents and mend fences.

AFP - South Africa's Jacob Zuma has shown his common touch as a people's president in the face of violent protests and economic pressures that have deflated his ambitious election promises.

Having just completed his first 100 days in office, the charismatic leader of Africa's biggest economy has already faced anger over poor service delivery, mass strikes and the country's first recession in 17 years.

But in a marked shift from his predecessor Thabo Mbeki, Zuma has shown signs of being more willing to listen and acknowledge problems, while mending fences with critics and opposition parties.

* » Zulu president to rule rainbow nation

"It is a bit of a first 100 days from hell," said political analyst Susan Booysen of Johannesburg-based Wits University.

One of the positive aspects of Zuma's government was its reassurance to citizens and stated willingness to tackle challenges instead of pretending they don't exist.

"We've seen very welcoming recognition that there is a crisis, and caution that much less is achievable," she told AFP.

"(But) I don't think they have been up front enough about the jobs situation and the poverty situation."

In the midst of an economic crisis, promises to create 500,000 jobs have proved overly ambitious and Zuma has had to tone down expectations. Some 270,000 jobs have been lost this year alone.

However Booysen said initial responses to the crisis, which comes amid massive unemployment and poverty 15 years after the fall of apartheid, had been sluggish.

"We have heard of a number of plans but we haven't seen things turned around with great effectiveness and visibility."

She warned of growing dissatisfaction with service delivery saying patience "could really, really start running thin".

While Mbeki's aloofness saw him fall in popularity, Zuma stunned residents in a shantytown this week when he made an unannounced visit, finding the mayor at home in the middle of the day.

Zuma, who frequently reiterates that his government is "of the people, by the people and for the people", warned he would not rely solely on reports from his ministers.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday the 67-year-old president said he had "gained a real understanding of the anger and frustration, having seen that they have no school, no clinic and lack many other services, including identity documents."

This was a day after his housing minister, multimillionaire Tokyo Sexwale spent a wintry night in a shack to experience residents complaints firsthand.

Political analyst Dirk Kotze of the University of South Africa said despite fears Zuma would be a puppet of his staunch leftist backers, he had shown he was not easily manipulated, and had formed an inclusive cabinet.

"Despite all the scenarios created before the election, it now seems like the new government can cope," he told AFP.

"There is a general sense of well, he is performing better than most people thought."

Zuma's path to the presidency was plagued by scandal over his polygamy, a rape charge on which he was acquitted and eight years of corruption charges which the state eventually dropped before April elections.

Kotze said Zuma has modelled himself on Nelson Mandela, going out to meet people while the hands-on work is done by his deputy and powerful planning ministers.

"It is a bit of a hands-off, delegated form of government," said Kotze, adding that his low-key stance on international issues meant South Africa was losing its prominence as a voice on the continent.

While Mbeki typically hit back at his enemies, Zuma has sought to mend fences with his, recently meeting fierce critic Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

"In my view it is a very positive sign that despite my critical voice, the president was keen to chat. This openness can only augur well for our country," Tutu said in a statement.

france24

16 August 2009
AFP - Police raided an Islamic sect's compound in central Nigeria, evacuating some 4,000 members, weeks after an uprising by another sect left 800 dead in five northern states, officials said Sunday.

"Our action of evacuating members of the sect from Darul Islam is necessary to forestall any religious crisis in the (central) state" of Niger, state police commissioer Mike Zuokumor told AFP.

He said around 1,500 police from Abuja carried out the operation on the sect in a large compound in Mokwa, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Minna, the Niger state capital, on Saturday.

He said the action followed complaints by the state government that the existence and activities of the group could cause a religious crisis, and fears of possible deadly violence like the uprising last month by the self-styled Taliban fundamentalist group Boko Haram in northern Nigeria.

"They are being kept in a government technical college so as to question them about their activities," Zuokumor said.

He added that members of the sect did not resist the authorities and no weapons were found on them. "Our operation was peaceful," he said.

He said the suspects could face prosecution if their activities were found to be detrimental to religious peace in the state.

But Darul Islam's leader Malam Bashiru Abdullahi Sulaiman said in a telephone interview with AFP that the sect was founded 16 years ago to "enable us to practice our faith as purely as possible and not to mingle with ordinary people."

The state government had invited the police to take action after it became worried about the activities of the group, spokesman Bala Abdukadir told AFP.

"We don't want a repeat of the Boko Haram episode in Niger state," he said.

The Boko Haram violence which erupted on July 26 was crushed after days of clashes between the sect and security forces.

Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua has ordered an investigation into the violence and the killing in police custody of the sect's leader Mohammed Yusuf.

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay and rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called on the government to investigate the security forces' role in the violence.

Nigeria's 140 million population is divided between Christians in the south, and Muslims mainly in the north, where 12 of the 36 states adopted Islamic sharia law in 2000.
france24

August 17, 2009
Kenya has lost an average of 100 lions in each of the last 7 years and its lion population could disappear altogether in the next 20 years, the Kenya Wildlife Service said Monday. The lion population fell to about 2,000 animals, from 2,749 in 2002, because of climate change, habitat destruction, disease and conflict with people, the service said.

nytimes

17 August 2009
The Nigerian Red Cross Society says more than 1,264 children were orphaned by last month's Boko Haram sectarian crisis in Maiduguri.

Alhaji Bullam Gubio the Borno chairman of the organisation, disclosed this yesterday in Maiduguri in an interview with newsmen.

"We currently have more than 1,264 children orphaned by the crisis under our care as at the last count", he said. Gubio said more than 392 women who lost their husbands during the crisis were also receiving assistance from the organisation, adding that more than 48 households rendered homeless after the crisis in the town.

Gubio said the immediate task facing the Red Cross was how to provide for the primary needs and rehabilitate the homeless. He said that Alhaji Shettima Monguno an elderly statesman in the state, had provided materials worth more than N2 million for the rehabilitation of the victims. "Monguno had provided N2 million worth of relief materials for the victims. He has also offered to sponsor 50 secondary school students among the victims", he said. (NAN)

allafrica

HARARE, 17 August 2009 (IRIN) - Industrial action for better wages by Zimbabwe's doctors is threatening the country's ability to deal with H1N1 influenza, also known as swine flu, and the possible resurgence of a deadly cholera epidemic.

Public hospital doctors have been on strike for the past two weeks, demanding housing and car allowances and a salary of US$1,000 - a sharp rise from the uniform US$170 monthly salary paid to all public servants.

Zimbabwe's public health system is under severe pressure: general nutrition levels are poor - around 7 million people were receiving food aid at the beginning of 2009 and many are still food insecure; a cholera epidemic that began in August 2008 and lasted almost a year recorded nearly 100,000 cases and claimed more than 4,000 lives. Now, reports of H1N1 cases are increasing.

The cholera outbreak, Africa's most deadly in 15 years, was blamed on the breakdown of water and sanitation infrastructure, which in the main has not been repaired and analysts acknowledge will provide a breeding ground for the waterborne disease.

A recent visit by an IRIN correspondent to Parirenyatwa hospital in the capital, Harare, the country's largest referral facility, established that patients were being turned away because there were no doctors available.

When the unity government was established in February 2009 the public health service was on the verge of collapse, with most government hospitals closed because of staff absenteeism and acute shortages of medical equipment and drugs.

Resurrection of the health service was made a priority, but recovery is being dented by the doctor's strike, and compounded by a "go-slow" by nursing staff, who are also threatening to strike if their working conditions do not improve.

"The strike will have a negative bearing on our efforts to revive the health sector. We are appealing to the health workers to bear with us while we negotiate for better salaries for them. The government has no financial resources," Health and child welfare minister Henry Madzorera told IRIN.

International donors have been cautious to respond to the unity government's appeal for more than US$8 billion to kick-start the beleaguered economy, adopting a wait-and-see approach to the uneasy marriage between President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Cholera and H1N1 must be taken seriously

"The government is not being serious about the potential threat of swine flu and cholera outbreak. Only emergency cases are being attended to, while outpatient departments have been closed," said Brighton Chizhande, president of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association.

However, Health Services Board executive chairman Lovemore Mbengeranwa told the parliamentary portfolio committee on health that most of the doctors' grievances were being addressed and they would return to work soon.

MDC spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka told IRIN: "There is an urgent need for the government to avert this strike, as it comes when the country is still recovering from a serious outbreak of cholera."

He noted that "Although doctors are at the centre of the health recovery process and any strike action is likely to have a negative effect, the MDC calls on the government to give a living wage, considering the amount of work and sacrifice they put in saving the lives of the people."

irinnews

MBABANE, 17 August 2009 (IRIN) - Swaziland's small-scale farmers are succumbing to the temptation of soaring sugar prices, cultivating cane at the expense of edible crops in the food-stressed country.

Raw sugar prices have reached a 28-year high, driven by fears that demand will outstrip supply on the back of a poor 2008/09 crop in India, with another below average harvest expected, and Brazil's increasing use of sugar cane to manufacture ethanol for biofuel.

Observers are divided on the merits of cash crops in favour of subsistence food production, which are challenging long-held views about food security.

"It is simplistic to say that cultivating export crops robs starving people of food here at home. In fact, that's wrong," Amos Ndwandwe, an agricultural extension officer in the eastern Lubombo region, told IRIN. This has been Swaziland's main cane-growing area for generations.

Tammy Dlamini, a programme officer at the UN World Food Programme (WFP), which in recent years has provided food assistance to more than 60 percent of the country's roughly one million people, agreed.

"For us, food security is not just production; our position is that people are going hungry - not because there isn't food production, but because they don't have enough money to purchase food."

The International Sugar Organization expects sugar prices to rise 76 percent in 2009, making it an attractive proposition for small farmers to cultivate, as it will yield far higher profits than cereal or vegetable crops, whose excess after household consumption is sold at local markets to obtain cash.

A household survey by the WFP and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture, found that farming families depended on local shops for basic foodstuffs. However, in a country where the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has estimated that two out of three people live in chronic poverty, the necessary cash is not always available.

"Food is in the shops - Swazis purchase over 70 percent of what they eat [rather than growing it]. [Being] next to South Africa [which exports food] means that on a national level there is no food shortage; on a household level we experience shortages due to poverty," Dlamini said.

"Job losses, not crop losses due to bad weather, have had the biggest impact on food security this year [2009]; more than anything, joblessness hinders food security."

Sugar, colloquially known as "Swazi gold", has been the top export for decades. "In Swaziland there has been some debate on how much arable land should be made available to growing feedstocks for ethanol, because that would be coming at the expense of such crops as maize, which is the staple crop," Michael Matsebula, CEO of the Swaziland Sugar Association, told IRIN.

"At the end of the day it is a question of relative prices, so if an ordinary household in the rural areas can get more money producing cassava that will go into ethanol production, as opposed to maize for consumption purposes, then they will go for cassava. This is where it is important for government to come in with support policies so it is attractive to grow maize," Matsebula said.

African sugar cultivation has been increasing: from 2004 to 2007 production averaged 9.63 million tons, or 6.4 percent of world production; exports reached 3.38 million tons, or 7 percent of world exports, making the continent's sugar sales higher than its portion of world production.

"Africa is punching above its weight when it comes to global sugar trading interactions," Matsebula told an International Sugar Conference in Luxor, Egypt, in March. The continent's share of global consumption rose from 3.9 percent in 2000 to 4.9 percent by 2007.

The combined effects of India's anticipated poor harvest and bad weather in Brazil are expected to place a higher premium on African sugar. "The net income that rural households can make from sugar cane at this point of time is still higher than any other crop," Matsebula noted.

Small-scale farmers have been encouraged to form cooperatives. "There is investment going on. One of the mills has actually put in a lot of money to expand its production capacity so it takes cane grown in the Lower Usuthu Irrigation Scheme," he said of a government initiative to divert water from a major river for use by farmer cooperatives.

Although Swaziland's income from sugar exports rose last year, the amount of land devoted to cane cultivation diminished. "We are still encouraging farmers to form cooperatives, and they are doing that," Matsebula said.

"There are challenges of course. Some of the small farmers are finding it difficult to live within the constitutions of the associations, so there is a need for education to ensure there are no squabbles that lead to the farmers associations breaking up," he said, referring to land-use arguments and chieftaincy disputes, where one chief claims land being used by a cooperative formed under a neighbouring chief.

WFP's Dlamini said, "We must ask who is being targeted with the sugar cane initiatives? It is not always the poorest in the community who benefit. The poor do not have the land to contribute to a cooperative, they are illiterate and can't deal with documents and agreements, they cannot afford joining fees. So an educational component must enter into it. From a food security point of view, who are these schemes targeting?"

irinnews

BAMAKO, 17 August 2009 (IRIN) - While a recently adopted family code awaits presidential approval in Mali, a decades-old law that calls for much of what is in the new code remains unenforced, according to the Ministry of Justice.

“Certain laws are problematic [to enforce] on the ground, especially when a [human] right clashes with customs,” said the Justice Ministry’s communications advisor, Lamine Keïta. “The right is paramount but in reality there is a lack of awareness.”

The existing family code, adopted in 1962, has rarely been enforced, University of Bamako anthropology professor Naffet Keïta told IRIN. “Social relations are above many other considerations in Mali. We are all bound, in part, by family, which makes it difficult to apply laws [governing social problems].” He said the new code will share the earlier code’s enforcement challenge.

“Most social problems…are managed outside the law.”

Escaping marriage

On 9 August police in a neighbourhood on the outskirts of the capital Bamako arrested an ethnic Peulh herder in his 40s, Amadou Diallo, for attempting to marry off his 12-year-old daughter to her cousin – a man in his 50s. A policeman who wished to remain anonymous told IRIN: “It was in trying to right an [inter-family problem] that he decided to give his 12-year-old daughter in marriage.” He added that the girl was offered in place of her 18-year-old sister who had fled the night before her planned wedding to the same man.

An anonymous informant alerted the police when a crowd gathered around the crying would-be child bride, according to local police. “Thankfully, the girl escaped the forced marriage and we have handed her over to her aunt,” said the police officer.

“I have always been opposed to these forced marriages, but my brother never listens to me,” the aunt, Aminata Barry, told IRIN. “He says it is God’s will that daughters marry as soon as they reach puberty. Thankfully, the little girl escaped. I will take care of her education myself and see to it that she marries a man of her choice.”

The arrested herder has been released after the required 72-hour detention and his case referred to the courts, the policeman told IRIN.

Traditional marriages are seen as legal in Mali, said lawyer Bouaré Bintou Founé Samaké, who works in a Bamako free legal clinic funded by the Canadian government. The legal reality is often ignored, she said.

“Early or forced marriage is an infraction defined as abduction with the intent to marry off the girl without her consent,” said the lawyer. Depending on the child’s age, the punishment can be up to 10 years of community work and for foreigners, a ban on entering Mali for up to 20 years, Samaké told IRIN.

Even though early and forced marriages are already criminalized by law, the challenge is enforcement, said lawyer and legislator, Hamidou Diabaté. “We have done our work in the National Assembly. It is now up to those responsible to ensure the law is correctly applied.

“In Mali, we are not short on good laws, but rather on their enforcement in the field.”

Bamako-based historian and social science researcher, Alou Badra Macalou, told IRIN laws alone cannot change behaviour. “These laws are imposed from the top down to the masses, where it is difficult to make a group of people who do not have common sense to understand and accept the laws. When we no longer know how to behave, it is hard to believe a law can force us to do so.”

irinnews

Aug 17, 2009
By Hector Igbikiowubo
SHELL Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), operated of the Shell/NNPC joint venture on Thursday halted operations at its Utorogu gas plant in the southern Niger Delta following suspected sabotage of the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline system.

The development also caused gas supply disruption to the 1320 Megawatts (MW) Egbin thermal power station and others, resulting in a loss of 1000 Megawatts (MW) of electricity generation to the national grid.

“We have no report of an attack on the Utorogu gas plant,” Shell spokeswoman Caroline Wittgen said.
“However the plant was shut down yesterday because of an incident on the Escravos_Lagos Pipeline System (ELPS). Utorogu produces into the pipeline,” she told Reuters news agency.

Utorogu was shut down for several days in April in order to repair a pipeline that was tapped by thieves.Although a statement released by management of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), disclosed that the loss to the national grid amounted to 500 MW, another statement from the power ministry disclosed that the loss had risen to 1000 MW from the current 2400MW of power across the country.

PHCN explained that it first received notification to this effect from the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), yesterday.
It is on record that due to gas supply limitation, Sapele Power Station has been shut down since November 2008, while supplies to Geregu, Omotosho and Olorunsogo Power Stations are similarly affected.

Egbin in particular had been badly affected by the recurring vandalism of the Utorogu condensate pipeline, causing the plant to drop output to 300 MW.
It was gathered however, that output from the plant had increased to 600MW before the recent development, an indication that only 100 MW output may be generated from today.

“In the circumstance, we are appealing to our esteemed customers, the media and other stakeholders for understanding and continued support as the NGC has assured us of immediate repairs. We promise to keep you informed of further developments and assure of our determination for a sustainable power supply to the nation.”

Also speaking on the development, Mrs Olubunmi Badejo, the Press Secretary to the Minister of Power Dr. Lanre Babalola said that the development would further worsen the already comatose power situation in the country.
She said the Utorogu pipeline remains the only supply chain to the nation’s thermal power stations in the country adding that the Minister is seriously perturbed by the development.

Badejo further stated that the Minister was on his way to Alaoji power plant to see the level of work at the thermal plant and had high hopes for achieving the targeted 6000 MW by December until the recent development at Utorogu which occurred in the wee hours of yesterday.

She could not confirm as at press time which group of people were responsible for this sabotage but stated that the Ministry in conjunction with its agencies are still carrying out investigations and would issue a statement on the development as it unfolds.
Vandalism of the Shell operated Utorogu condensate pipeline has become a recurring decimal, making it impossible for the PHCN to meet its obligations to power consumers.

An industry operator said members of the Iwerekan community in Delta state were thought to have been responsible for Thursday’s incident on the pipeline, although it was not immediately clear whether it was an act of attempted theft or sabotage.

The pipeline system supplies gas feedstock from the Niger Delta to power stations in the southern part of the country, including the commercial hub of Lagos, as well as the West African gas pipeline structure.

While speaking on the development an official of the power ministry noted that the expectation was that following the granting of amnesty and the declaration of cease-fire by the militants acts of vandalism would cease.

The official who did not want his name in print disclosed that power generation from the operating plants had earlier recorded marked improvement, registering an average 2400 MW in the last 4 days, adding however that with the current development it will drop and worsen the load-shedding regime.

“PHCN is in dire straits as we speak and at this rate, payment of salaries will soon become an issue because the public utility cannot collect outstanding electricity bills from customers who do not have power supply,” the official disclosed. Vanguard gathered that following the rains, output from the three hydro power stations including Kainji, Shiroro and Jebba are generating 700 MW.
vanguardngr

NAIROBI, 17 August 2009 (IRIN) - Some rains have fallen in northern Somalia, but this has not stopped an exodus of drought-affected people from rural areas to urban centres in Somaliland, local officials said.

"We know that hundreds of thousands have [been] displaced to urban centres," said Abdihakim Garaad Mohamoud, Deputy Minister at the Somaliland Ministry of Resettlement, Reintegration and Rehabilitation.

"Every city in Somaliland has a huge number of displaced people because of the recent drought," he added. "It has affected 60 percent of the rural population, whether they are pastoralists or agro-pastoralists. From east to west, south to north, every place in Somaliland has been affected."

Across towns in the self-declared republic, such as Burao, Berbera, Erigavo, Las’anod and Badhan, temporary shelters have sprouted as rural dwellers arrive from the countryside.

"The government has planned to deal with the problem, but our capacity is limited," Mohamoud told IRIN in Hargeisa. "Sixty percent of animals have been lost. One [man] who had 200 sheep has lost 110-120, and one who had 20 camels lost half.”

The governor of Togdheer region, Jama Abdillahi Warsame, said his government, with local NGOS, was trucking water to 78 villages.

"We estimate [that] more than 8,000 people moved to Burao [the main livestock market town] from rural areas," he told IRIN.

He named the most vulnerable districts in Togdheer region as Hod, Ina Afmadobe, War-Imran, Ilka-Cadays, Bali-Hiile, Suryo, Lebi-Guun, Adow Yurura, Isku Dhoon, in Burou and Qoryale, as well as Qori Dheere in Ainabo districts of Sool region.

Late rains

The deputy minister said some rains had started in most of Somaliland, but the emergency was continuing. Prices of food, for example, had remained high.

"Some rain has started, but animals and people are so weak and [may not be] able to survive the wet situation," he added. "We are calling on the international community to help the drought-affected people."

Business people in the port city of Berbera said sugar prices had increased by about 70 percent in the past few weeks.

Mohamed Ahmed Imbir, owner of a food store in Berbera, told IRIN: "We were selling one sack of sugar at US$28, but now we are selling for $34." He did not know why prices had risen.

On 22 June, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net) warned that the drought in Somalia's central region had extended northwards into the key pastoral areas of the Sool plateau, Nugaal valley, and Hawd livelihood zones.

The situation threatened more than 700,000 pastoralists and a significant number of urban households, whose income and food sources are strongly linked to livestock marketing and trade.
irinnews

18 Aug 2009
Unidentified assailants have attacked a United Nations World Food Program (WFP) compound in Somalia's northwestern region of Bakool.

The attack on the WFP's compound in Bakool's Wajjud neighborhood was carried out in the early hours of Monday. It marked the fourth of such attacks in two months.

The United Nations in reaction vehemently censured the attack against its aid compound. "This direct, deliberate and sustained attack on aid organizations and aid workers is intolerable," acting UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Graham Farmer stated.

The world body has frequently urged all parties in strife-torn Somalia to assure the safety of humanitarian aid workers in the country.

Aid workers have been the targets of assassinations and kidnappings in Somalia where insurgent groups control most of the country. Many aid groups have ceased operations in the Horn of Africa nation due to the insecurity.

Since 1991, Somalia has not had a functioning national government and has been plagued by fighting and humanitarian suffering.

In recent years, ensuing instability, coupled with drought, high food prices as well as the collapse of the local currency have significantly worsened the dire humanitarian situation in the Horn of Africa state.

Some 3.2 million people or 40 percent of the population are suffering from the effects of the ongoing conflicts.
presstv

August 14, 2009
WORLD Bank President Robert Zoellick has pledged further aid to Rwanda to speed up development after being ripped apart by genocide.

The tiny landlocked East African state is reviving its economy with spending on tourism, agriculture and mining after 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed over a 100-day period in 1994.

Reforms and new programmes have turned the nation around in the 15 intervening years.

"On issue after issue, this is a country on the move," Zoellick said after talks with the government, including a lengthy meeting with President Paul Kagame.

"It's a country that also brings great momentum."

Zoellick, according to Reuters, said the World Bank wanted to bolster the areas of infrastructure, farming and private sector development.

After several years of strong growth, Rwanda has been hit hard by the collapse in global trade and commodity prices.

Lower levels of foreign direct investment are seen slashing growth to around five per cent this year from 11 per cent in 2008.

Over the past three years, World Bank assistance to Rwanda totaled about $400 million.

"I'd like to do more," Zoellick said at the end of his visit to the capital Kigali.

He said Rwanda could benefit from international investment in agriculture and revenues generated by new global climate change initiatives for nations that protect their forests.

"This is a country where you feel for every dollar you spend, or every hour you put in, you get a tremendous return," he added.

Kagame is a former rebel leader whose fighters invaded to stop Rwanda's genocide. He has won praise for running a disciplined administration and attracting foreign investors, but critics say his leadership style is authoritarian.

Zoellick is on a three-nation tour to Africa visiting countries emerging from conflict including Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

Authorities in Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday arrested a man accused of planning the massacre of at least 2,000 Rwandan Tutsis during the 1994 genocide.

Gregoire Ndahimana was arrested by Congolese soldiers on Sunday during UN-backed operations to stamp out Hutu rebel group the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) in violence ravaged eastern border province North Kivu.

"He was discovered by our units operating in North Kivu ... He was hiding among the FDLR," Congolese Information Minister Lambert Mende said.

Ndahimana was a local administrator in the Rwandan town of Kivumu during Rwanda's genocide.

According to his indictment by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), he is responsible for the deaths of at least 2,000 Tutsis, most of whom were killed when Hutus bulldozed the church where they were being held.

By July 1994, ICTR prosecutors believe almost all of Kivumu's 6,000 Tutsi residents had been killed.

The tribunal, based in the Tanzanian city of Arusha, was seeking Ndahimana's arrest for genocide or complicity in genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, and crimes against humanity for extermination.

About 16 people were killed and dozens injured on Wednesday when armed militia attacked DR Congo's largest tin mine.

Gunmen attacked the village of Mpama, a few kilometres from the Bisie cassiterite mine, in Congo's violence-ravaged North Kivu province.

Mpama is home to around 16,000 inhabitants, most of them informal miners who work in Bisie, the country's main source of the tin ore, and surrounding mines. Rebel groups in Congo often control cassiterite, gold and coltan mines whose output finances armed insurgencies.

"The provisional death toll is 16 dead," North Kivu's provincial mines minister Juma Balikwisha said.

UN-supported Radio Okapi reported that local mining police believed as many as 40 people had been killed, and another 45 were injured in the raid.

Authorities say they suspect the attack was carried out by a new Mai Mai militia with links to the FDLR.

During her visit to Congo, U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, on Tuesday called upon the Congolese government and the United Nations to better protect civilians in the east, who have been targeted for reprisal attacks by rebels.
ngrguardiannews

August 17, 2009
By Ibe Uwaleke, Abiodun Fanoro and Bertram Nwannekanma

A GAMUT of legal and national issues will be tackled by lawyers as the 2009 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference begins today at Eko Meridian Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

It is scheduled to be opened by Vice President Goodluck Jonathan

Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), is the guest speaker while the Chief Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi will be chairman of the opening ceremony.

The theme of five-day event is: "Under Developed Nations, Failed Economies and the Future of the Legal Profession."

Delegates to the conference, who started arriving since Saturday, were yesterday hosted to a welcome cocktail at the Lagos High Court by the Lagos State Chief Judge.

Other dignitaries expected to attend the conference include the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), International Bar Association President, Fernando Peleaz-Pier. The NBA's President, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, will be the chief host.

Discussants at the event include House of Representatives Speaker, Rt. Hon. Dimeji Bankole and Minster for Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe.

Governors expected include Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano State and his Edo counterpart, Adams Oshiomhole.

The NBA's National Executive Committee (NEC) met behind closed-doors yesterday to ratify positions on several contemporary issues.

Over 10,000 lawyers from within and outside the country and 100 speakers are expected at the occasion.

There will be 50 sessions throughout the event with several exhibitors, including Lagos State Government, UN Office on Drug and Crime; Blood Pressure Foundation and several law books publishing companies.

Also, restaurants numbering over 40 are scattered all over the venue which has become a beehive of activities.

Banners of different messages welcoming delegates adorn the place.

Some of the delegates who spoke to The Guardian yesterday expressed delight on the arrangements made by the association to host lawyers.

Among them was the chairman of Uyo branch Ekpeyong Essien, and the branch secretary, Victor Nkanang.
ngrguardiannews

17 August 2009
UN Blue Helmets Provide Help In Wake Of Deadly Attack In East Of DR Congo

New York, Aug 15 2009 2:10PM The United Nations peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is providing medical assistance to the victims of a deadly attack by armed militiamen in a mine-rich area in the strife-torn east of the country.

Media reports say at least 16 people were killed during Wednesday's attack, which took place in the remote village of Mpama in North Kivu province, close to the mines at Biseye. Mining is a lucrative source of income in the impoverished region, which continues to be beset by outbreaks of fighting involving militia groups and the army.

Troops from the Congolese army (FARDC) stationed nearby were dispatched to find the militiamen, but they had already fled, according to a press statement issued today by the UN peacekeeping mission, known as MONUC.

Alan Doss, the head of MONUC and the Secretary-General's Special Representative to the DRC, denounced the attack.

"Nothing can justify these crimes committed by the armed groups that strike at civilians," Mr. Doss said.

MONUC established a medical assistance team in the nearby town of Ishenga to treat the injured, with some others evacuated to other centres. The blue helmets have also stepped up their patrols in the Walikale-Biseye area.

www.scoop.co.nz

Aug 17, 2009
By Miho Yoshikawa

TOKYO (Reuters) - Gold slipped towards $940 on Monday to extend losses from late last week when lacklustre U.S. consumer confidence data clouded the economic outlook, causing oil to fall and dulling the metal's appeal as an inflation hedge.

The precious metal is now nearing the month's trough of $939.40 marked last week, while its fate remains closely tied in an inverse correlation to the dollar.

"Gold's decline on Friday was seen as pretty negative and the market's just on a bit of a follow-through this morning," said Adrian Koh, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

Bullion ended lower on Friday as lacklustre U.S. consumer confidence data cast doubts on a quick economic recovery, pushing oil prices lower and causing inflation worries to ease.

Gold was $943.00 per ounce at 0300 GMT on Monday, down 0.3 percent from New York's notional close of $945.85.

It erased earlier gains which had lifted it as high as

$947.85.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery were $945.0 per ounce, down 0.4 percent.
reuters